Prepare to be scared by this powerful introduction to some of the world’s major natural catastrophes. Divided into sections around different types of natural disaster – earthquakes and landslides, climate change, disasters from space – the powerful illustrations tell the stories graphically while the text provides invaluable scientific information. Countdown to Disaster explains how these disasters happen, and how likely each kind is to strike. It looks into the past, showing when they have occurred, and what effect they had. Even more importantly, it looks forwards, explaining what would happen if one of these disasters happened today - is there anything we can do?
Most people like a good scare, which is why disaster stories make gripping films. But some disasters are so colossal that no film could ever do them justice. They have happened ever since life first appeared on Earth, and another one could strike at any time. From gigantic eruptions to collisions with asteroids, they have the power to devastate life on Earth, or even to wipe it out all together.
Did you know that Yellowstone National Park sits on the remains of a vast supervolcano that could erupt at any time? That undersea earthquakes can trigger tsunamis, the biggest and most dangerous waves on earth, that lightning can make trees explode and that 25,000 years ago ice covered both London and New York? Includes topics such as supervolcanoes, global warming and asteroids. This is a companion volume to Countdown to Extinction.
David Burnie studied zoology and botany and has worked as a nature reserve ranger and biologist. He has written or contributed to many award-winning books and multimedia titles. His "Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia" was nominated for the U.K.'s Aventis Prize.
